


Strategic Scarf

by orphan_account



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Anger, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Not Actually Hickeys, Suspicious of Cheating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 14:39:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7805773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carisi comes home with a few marks on his neck, and an infuriated Barba demands an explanation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strategic Scarf

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request on tumblr. I hope you enjoy!  
> tumblr: bibarba

“Carisi, I’m really sorry about the situation you got into the other day. I was in the wrong for leaving you alone in there.”

A detective and his lieutenant strode through city sidewalks after from an interview, now heading to their precinct with the setting sun. After a particular meeting went south quickly, they were both on high alert while conducting investigations. Their hands burrowed into pockets, forming cocoons of defense from the winter chill, while they fought cold sensations with conversation.

“No, lieu, it was my bad to be so careless. I should’ve been by-the-book, and that’s my fault. Raf’s sick at home, and it’s got me all shook up, but I can’t rush into things.”

“I wasn’t there, so you had to make decisions for yourself. I’m not happy with what happened, but you couldn’t have expected it.”

Nodding, he realized that she was right. He couldn’t have planned for what happened.

The two strolled along until they reached familiar chilled doors. Carisi pulled the door open to let Benson in, but she with an open palm, she gestured for him to stop.

“You know, I’m gonna let you go home early. Go see someone you love and get your mind off of it.”

A moment’s refusal clouded over him, but he soon reminded himself to follow the lieutenant’s orders. 

“Thanks, Liv. I owe you one.”

Only his own breathing accompanied him on his journey to a quaint apartment that he shared with his boyfriend, Rafael Barba. Though he fought his own thoughts, reminders trouble events a day ago intruded upon any attempt at clarity. Merely the sight of his doorstep was the only thing keeping him from falling over the edge into a full-on flashback to his attack. Comforting thoughts of Barba overpowered harmful ones, but these too soon fell to new worries. After the altercation, he was left with marks to prove it, but these easily were misconstrued to be something else. Luckily, he had been working on street investigations in the middle of winter, but his home didn’t hold the same environment. Images of Barba’s face, stricken with contempt, as the marks on Carisi’s neck were revealed, haunted his mind. Hopefully, he would understand.

Approaching his apartment door, anxiety washed over him, combining emptiness in his stomach with warm, rushing sensations in his limbs. Creaking sounds from the door only stimulated Carisi’s nerves further. Automatically, he noticed Barba craned over a dining table, papers splayed out across it. The door opening set off the lawyer’s daily alarm to greet his boyfriend. This was usually followed Carisi setting his coat and scarf by the door, but in this instance, he skipped that step, leaving Barba to gesture toward the coat rack. Of course, red flags went off in Barba’s mind, and these presented themselves in the form of a signature puzzled expression. 

“I made it pretty warm in here, Sonny.”

“I know,” he let out a light chuckle, masking his secrecy, “just give me a second Raf.”

Roughly disrobing himself of his coat was normal, but he trampled over to the couch, kicking his shoes off along the way, without removing his scarf. Barba furrowed his brows, letting his mind wander. Carisi had his quirks, but something was wrong here. 

Barba roamed toward Carisi’s direction, analyzing the situation before seating himself next to his boyfriend. He had already splayed himself across the couch, legs resting on a coffee table, eyelids falling to welcome sleep. Perhaps he was simply exhausted and couldn’t be bothered to remove his scarf, but Barba took the investigative measure anyway.

Barba extended a hand to the part of the scarf looped around his neck. It was strategically placed far above his collar, and the reasoning for this was soon to be realized. At the slightest touch, Carisi jumped forward, now sitting upright, swatting Barba’s hand out of the way in the process. Even more lines painted themselves across Barba’s face as he grew concerned for Carisi. He could have been overthinking, but his mind just operated that way.

“Sonny! Just take the scarf off, it’s seventy-five degrees in here!”

In Barba’s mind, he saw that Carisi was being ridiculous. For the other, though, his heartbeat raced as he lightly pulled the garment from his neck. Beneath it, he revealed a few bruise-like marks, no larger than a fingerprint, lining the skin formerly concealed. Carisi dropped back and leaned his head back over the couch in embarrassment, while Barba stared into the marks, mouth wide open. Carisi gripped the roots of his hair to gain some sort of bearing on the situation. 

“I get that this looks bad, but I just didn’t want you-“

“What? You didn’t want me thinking that you cheated on me? Because it’s perfectly obvious now.”

Barba sprang up to his feet, crossing his arms, clenching his jaw while he awaited Carisi’s response. Restlessly tapping his foot and stretching his neck was a familiar sight to Carisi, indicating furiousness. On the other hand, Carisi found his face buried in his hands as Barba’s stare burned through him. He scratched at his scalp a few times, running over the words to say in his mind, and then smoothed out his hair.

“Look, I was going to say that I didn’t want to worry you.” Barba stared intently into Carisi’s eyes, picking apart every single detail of his statement. “The other day I was going to interview a suspect. Liv went to get something from the car and I stayed in there. It got bad real fast. He had me in a chokehold until Liv showed up. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Raf.” 

Carisi once again grabbed at his hair and leaned back, praying that Barba would believe him. He stared at the ceiling until his boyfriend cleared his throat and relaxed his squinting eyes. For a moment, they shared silent communication in which Barba saw his mistake and Carisi’s pain. Leaning down to sit himself on the couch again, he reached to Carisi’s shoulder, and then pulled himself closer to the distraught man.

“Sonny, I’m so sorry. I don’t want you to think that I don’t trust you.”

“No, it’s my fault. I should have told you.”

“I won’t say that you shouldn’t have told me, but I jumped to conclusions. I make mistakes, too.”

Carisi turned his head toward Barba and gently smiled, to which Barba did the same. 

“Raf, you know I love you.”

Barba’s faint grin melted into a wide smile.

“I love you too.”

Carisi pulled Barba closer to him, and they made moments feel like hours. Carisi fell to exhaustion, but Barba was able to savor the moment, thanking the world that he met this man.


End file.
